ABOUT THE VILLA

A fabulous example of the region’s multi-coned trulli houses, I Gelsi is top to toe in exposed stone, from pale-toned flag floors, to walls a metre thick, broad arches in beautifully vaulted bedrooms, and cleverly designed shower rooms, utilising nooks and crannies as handy storage shelves. Though all this keeps the house naturally cool, nothing is left to chance at the much loved and well-designed villa, so air conditioning takes its place among a list of contemporary facilities, which includes WiFi and an iPad; and the house is furnished to a high standard throughout.
A very adaptable villa for groups of friends or family, four of the five guest rooms have en suite bath or shower room, most are flexibly furnished for twin or double use, and there is a barrel-arched single room with access to an upper terrace. Within the grounds are several areas for lounging and dining, in sunshine or shade; a portable barbecue for lunches al fresco; and a generously sized swimming pool, set in a pretty paved terrace. I Gelsi is just 4km from amenities in Alberobello, with several small towns within 20km, and a trio of beaches within 30km.

Review"We all enjoyed our stay at Gelsi! I think it is very well laid out for large families or several couples. Camilla was a 'must have' as her cooking was great and gave us a chance to sample regional home cooking. She was also very patient with our lousy Italian!"

VILLA PRICE INCLUDES

*Between 08 July and 02 September price also includes cook service for 2 meals per day (breakfast and then either lunch or dinner) 6 days per week, to include shopping time. Food and beverages not included.

*Between 24 June and 02 September a complimentary cooking class is included.

Fewer of You?

Competitive prices are available up to 24 June and from 02 September for parties of 4 and 6 people.

For these smaller parties only 2 or 3 bedrooms will be available respectively.
For bookings for 2018, enjoy our competitively priced CV Villas flight from Gatwick to Bari with British Airways departing at 08.25 and including luggage. Car hire and transfers are available on request at an additional cost. Please call us for further details.

Included

Rental Includes

Cook service (from 08 July - 02 September, the cook shops and prepares breakfast and one other main meal 6 days per week). Food and beverages not included. Cook service is on request at all other times and payable locally at an additional cost • Maid service up to 4 hours, 2 days per week including changeover day (Wednesday + Saturday) • Linen change twice per week including changeover day • Welcome pack • Three course welcome dinner • Bathrobes • Bathroom amenities • A complimentary cooking class – ingredients included (from 24 June - 02 September)

Notes

Please note any late arrivals between 8pm-10pm are on request. If it is possible there is a fee of €30 payable locally in cash.

Note

All bedrooms on the ground floor can be made up as twin or double. Please confirm on booking. 2 extra beds can be added to the master bedroom. Please note that for parties of reduced numbers some bedrooms will be closed.

CV CONTACT

An English speaking CV representative in Italy will be available by phone during your stay. Contact details will be sent with your travel documents.

TENANCY TIMES

Arrive: 16:00 - 19:00, depart 10:00.

Low Walls

Please refer to the Health & Safety pages on this website.

Travel and Additional services

Flights

CV Villas is happy to book flights for our customers on scheduled, chartered or low cost airlines from London and regional UK airports. Please ask for details.

Car Hire

Car hire can be pre-booked through CV Villas with collection at the airport or port of arrival, and in some cases the hire car can be delivered to the villa for an additional charge. Please ask for details.

Cook service

Cook service is included from 08 July - 02 September. The cook shops and prepares breakfast and one other main meal 6 days per week. Cook service is on request at all other times and payable locally for an additional cost.

Excursions

A range of excursions are available to book locally combining a private visit to a cheese farm and cycling, private tour of Lecce and local vineyards, sailing and a visit to fish restaurants. Please ask for further details.

Cooking Classes

The best chefs in the area are available on request to give instruction on Puglian cuisine. Please ask for further details

If a building can be a symbol for a whole region, then the trullo stands for Puglia—also known as ‘Apulia’ in English. Think of a Puglia villa holiday and those round, whitewashed limestone buildings with their comical, conical roofs always spring to mind. But there’s more to the region that is the narrow heel of Italy’s boot than trullo country around Alberobello. Discover baroque beauty in Lecce, Emperor Frederick II’s mysterious architecture at the Castel del Monte, and total relaxation on a Puglia villa stay in a rural Masseria.

Cities

Ports are strung out along the Adriatic coast, and each has a long history of trade with the Levant, Asia Minor, and Greece. Bustling Bari is the most important city, the regional capital, and the final home of Father Christmas—he’s known as ‘St. Nicholas of Bari’ in Italy, because a delegation from the city stole his bones from Turkey in the 11th century. However, Puglia’s real urban highlight lies a little inland: Lecce’s streets are lined with florid buildings crafted from local sandstone in the baroque architectural style.

Puglia Villas

Countryside

Puglia’s agricultural flatlands were first portioned into farms by the Romans—the terrain here is more fertile than most of the arid, sun-baked south. Trullo country, among the orchards and vineyards around Alberobello, Cisternino, Martina Franca, and the Valle d’Itria, has some of the region’s most photogenic drives. The woods of the Gargano Peninsula are the last surviving Italian section of the Foresta Umbra, an ancient deciduous forest of oak and beech that once covered much of the peninsula.

Eating and drinking

Pugliese cooking follows a couple of rules: ingredients have to be fresh, and preparation is usually simple. The sea is a well-used source of food, and Puglia is also Italy’s largest oil-producing region—Gallipoli is as famous for its olive presses as for its backstreet churches. Al fresco waterfront eating is great in Otranto, Trani, and ports and resorts all along the coast. Red wines made from grapes such as Negroamaro and Primitivo achieve heady levels of flavour (and alcohol)—Primitivo is especially refined from the Manduria DOC, south of Grottaglie.

Coast

You’re rarely very far from the sea in Puglia—and either Carpignano or Martano makes a good base if you want to combine Lecce with a visit to the pretty seaside town of Otranto. At the fishing port of Trani, the 12th-century Duomo has all the sturdy elegance you expect from a cathedral built in the Romanesque style, plus one very untypical feature: a perch right beside the sea. Puglia’s beaches are idyllic in the far south of the Salentine Peninsula, close to Ugento and Salve.

History

Puglia is no historical backwater—all sorts has happened here through the ages. At the Battle of Cannae, close to modern-day Barletta, Hannibal’s army defeated the Romans in 216 BC—and you can tour the battlefield. Jumping forward a few centuries, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II is a name you will encounter all over Puglia. His most mysterious legacy is the Castel del Monte, an octagonal, 13th-century fortress-residence. Throughout the Middle Ages, Crusaders passed through Pugliese ports en route to the Middle East, and Turkish pirates massacred 10,000 residents of Otranto in 1480.

Arts and culture

So-called ‘Lecce Baroque’ is a unique variant on the decorative architectural style of the 17th century, and reached its peak in the city’s Santa Croce and Palazzo Vescovile. Puglia is also the original home of the tarantella, a traditional folk dance that got its name from the seaside town of Taranto. It became popular across the south of Italy, even in the Neapolitan royal court, in the 1800s. You will still hear it at village festivals all over Puglia.

Nature

The Gargano National Park is Puglia’s most important, and has the region’s only really extreme topography. A peninsula that juts out into the Ionian Sea, it is cloaked in deciduous woodland and spiked with dramatic crags that tower over coves and fishing villages. Drive the circular SS89 and smaller roads for coastal views. Inland, close to the regional border with Basilicata, the Alta Murgia National Park covers almost 700 square kilometres of rolling terrain where species like the kestrel and wild boar are protected. You can explore on foot or by mountain bike.

Relaxation

Many a typical Pugliese Masseria has been converted for guest relaxation—the need for a farmhouse fortified against marauding pirate raids has dropped in recent decades. Slow right down to the Pugliese pace of life among the farmland of the Valle d’Itria or a tiny seaside spot like Savelletri. Most of your Pugliese holiday pastimes are perfect for putting you in a relaxed frame of mind, from roaming the streets of the ‘white town’ of Ostuni (it really is white) to lying on a sandy beach in the Salentine Peninsula.